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Introduction

When I moved to Seattle from the east coast about 25 years ago, I started to explore the city and the surrounding area by bike; first, commuting to work and then adding fitness rides to my commuting trips. What I found were challenging routes that gave me a great workout but also some beautiful scenery, great parks, spectacular views plus interesting restaurants, cafes, bistros and bakeries along the way to stop for a snack or a cold drink. I think that by traveling by bike, at my own pace on quite streets and trails, through neighborhoods and parks, I have seen the Seattle area in a way I would not have experienced otherwise. I want to share with you the rides that have given me such a unique insight into our city and surrounding area. Whether you are new to town or a native, I hope you’ll find something to enjoy in these rides that have become my favorites.

This blog describes several loop bicycle rides in and around the Seattle metropolitan area with rides for every level of cyclist. Many of the loop rides can be combined or can be done as a shorter “out and back ride”. Each loop described on this blog includes a convenient start/end point that offers ample parking for those transporting their bicycle. Any loop can be done in either direction.

Wednesday, April 2, 2014

This 44 mile ride started at the Kingston
ferry terminal with a friend from Kingston who knows the back roads of Kitsap County. We head north for a loop through the Little Boston and
paused at Point Julia which offers a great view across to Port Gamble. We
continued north onto Hood Canal Drive, stopping at several road ends that
provided public beach access and views of the Olympic Mountains, the Hood Canal
Bridge, and shoreline wildlife, (4 eagles and a blue heron where there today). After traveling through the community of
Driftwood keys, we headed northwest on Twin Spits Road for a three mile loop
side trip up Foulweather Bluff Road before heading east on Twin Spits Road back to the Puget Sound side of
the Great Peninsula to Hansville and a coffee stop at the Hansville Grill and Grocery.
for some time at the Norwegian Point beach.

Point No Point Lighthouse

After a detour to Point No Point's Lighthouse our
ride continued south on Hansville Road and the Old Hansville Highway, crossing
NE 288th Street; at this point the ride can be extended to Port Gamble or even
over the Hood Canal Bridge by heading west and intersecting with WA-104. However, today we simply continue south across
Hwy 104 onto Miller Bay Road, passing the North Kitsap Heritage Park, and
turning SE on Indianola Road to the old ferry pier and waterfront and views to
Seattle. The Indianola Country Store has
great hand-made sandwiches and beverages.

Author at Indianola waterfront

After a quick detour to
the south on Shore Drive and Sea View Avenue to check out the Miller Bay spit
we head north back on Kitsap Street, crossing Indianola Road to the new White
Horse trail that runs along the east side of the White Horse Golf Club. We
continued east, then north on Whitehorse Drive, South Kingston Road and West
Kingston Road to Kingston and the ferry.

Both the north loop and the Indianola loop can be done separately to shorten the ride. Keep in mind the roads of Kitsap County while offering little traffic to contend with are up and down from sea level to higher bluffs (we topped out several times above 350 feet and bottomed out at sea level as many times)

For details on this route such as map, ride stats, full directions and elevation profile:visit RideWithGPS